Photography competition champions stunning Irish creativity

11,000 Irish photographers entered this year's Huawei Creatives competition - a local Dublin photographer was the winner.

A Dubliner has been named as the overall winner of the 2019 Huawei Creatives photography competition. Peter O'Doherty’s winning photograph captures workers at Dublin Bay in an incredible monochrome shot that was judged alongside more than 11,000 entries across Ireland as the ‘Best Overall’ photograph of 2019.

The established Instagram photo competition, now in its fourth year, celebrates Irish creative talent and is supported by global technology company Huawei. Utilizing social media, the competition seeks out Ireland’s most creative and talented photographers, inviting them to showcase their talent across 20 different categories.

A sports videographer by trade Peter, who grew up in Cabra, began to take photographs in 2003. Having started off capturing photos of his family, street portraits, music and documentary subjects Peter has since taken up photography more seriously. He said, “I'm delighted that this shot won because it really represents my work and what I like to shoot most.”

“People is what I love to photograph most. I saw these guys from a bus while on my way to Bull Island. I went straight over to them when I got off, to ask if I could take a couple of shots," Peter recalled of his winning photograph.

"They soon forgot I was there and as I began to walk off, I noticed them forming a line. I noticed the reflection in the water and click.”

In addition to receiving Huawei’s latest flagship device the P30 Pro, Peter’s prize includes an opportunity to seek out and test extraordinary new photography experiences on a trip to a destination of his choice, with flights and accommodation for two.

With his photography taking off, and the accolade of 2019 Creatives winner under his belt, Peter hopes to exhibit some of his work later in the year, including a range of photos portraying faces.

Huawei Creatives seeks to champion the very best of Irish innovation, creativity and talent.

“With more than 11,000 entries and almost 66,000 votes cast this year, Huawei Creatives has once again showcased and championed the creativity and passion of the Irish," Zena Ross, Head of Marketing & Retail for Huawei Ireland, said.

"As well as the other winning photos across categories such as Nature, People, Portrait and Food, Peter’s shot demonstrates the incredibly high standard of entries we received. Even a cursory look at the entries on @huaweimobileie clearly demonstrates that Ireland’s Instagram photographers are at the very top of the game.”

Zena went on to explain, “At Huawei we are known for our phenomenal cameras and our partnership with Leica and we wanted to use that position to support innovation and creativity both in our products and in communities across the globe and we see Huawei Creatives as the perfect medium for that.”

The 2019 category winners all received a Huawei P30 Pro and have had their shortlisted photographs platformed on the Huawei Mobile Ireland (@huaweimobileie) Instagram page.

The 2019 Creatives competition winners are:

Abstract - @sykes_36

Action - @owen_clarke_photography

Architecture - @_paulburke

Cityscapes - @dublincityshots

Community - @hippo_pants

Dublin - @jamesbaker_photography

Fashion - @capturedna

Food - @caitriona_barron

Ireland - @navaostek

Macro - @elizabeth.keaney

Monochrome - @irishphotographer1